After releasing a vinyl EP in the mid-90’s, the Mountain Brothers gained some national attention. But it wasn’t from the EP, it was from winning a national rhyme contest hosted by Coca-Cola. To the surprise of many, the Mountain Brothers did not look like your stereotypical hip-hoppas…they were Chinese. By 1996, the Mountain Bros. became the first Asian-Americans to score a major label deal. Columbia had ideas to make the trio from Illadelph into nothing more than gimmicks, and they weren’t havin’ it. Producer CHOPS and emcees Styles Infinite and Peril-L took the indy route and released their debut LP “Self: Volume 1” to critical acclaim in 1999.
For those into pigeon-holing every hip-hop act that comes out, the Mountain Brothers can be put into the ‘real hip hop’ category. CHOPS provides some real fresh beats, layered with nice kicks, snares and plenty of horns. “Microphone Phenomenal” is one of the finest examples of CHOPS’ production talents. Subject-wise, there is a sufficient amount of battle raps dissing wack emcees and anti-commercial slayings. “I’m Taking About You” contains both, as does the very dope “Hostile Takeover.” Can’t forget the scratching either, nearly half of the songs are blessed by the skills of DJ JAY-SKI, DJ Kwestion and DJ Roli Rho.
Like many albums that come out these days, the Mountain Brothers could have easily shaved off some tracks to shorten up, and tighten up, this 21 track album. While “Can’t Miss” pops, “Peril-l Universe” is rather mediocre and there are a few others that are just very average. The album should have finished at “Birds of Paradise” actually, the song is the crown jewel of the album and would have served as a perfect end to the album leaving heads wanting more. The tremendously unfunny skits also clutter things up. Nevertheless, the Mountain Brothers are talented individuals and “Triple Crown” is easily on par with their acclaimed debut.
6/10
